Fate's Only Truth
by rune101
Summary: Shikamaru/Hidan. The lines between foe and friend are crossed as Shikamaru and Hidan fall in love. Perhaps fate dealt them bad cards, perhaps they weren't meant to be together, Only time will tell. Slash.


Disclaimer~ I neither own, nor claim to own the characters depicted herein; I do however own the stories and plots in which I have created.

Warnings: Fluff, established relationship, slash (of the boyxboy variety), lemon

A/N:: I promised a member of the shikahida DeviantArt community that I would contribute to this pairing- so here I am, way over due, making good on my word. Since this pairing is barely read if you read please leave a review- even if it's only one word hehe.

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><p>Hidan couldn't relay the events of the past two years. At least not anyone who wasn't more than over the crest of the hill when it came to mental sanity. He had a person he lived with- did he daresay- cared for? Maybe...<p>

Two years ago he had been a part of the Akatsuki. It had fulfilled him to kill to his heart's content. But now- now he couldn't describe it. The feeling that is. Hidan was never as good as Deidara at showing his emotions. In fact, there had been a time when the only 'emotion' that existed for him was bloodlust.

He wasn't the only one who had changed though. After losing most of his sight- Itachi wasn't as effective at carrying out missions. Kisame could see the man's pride getting in the way of his safety and cursed himself for not stepping in earlier. Not taking 'no' for an answer, Kisame limited the physical strain that Itachi put on his eyes and they both left without a trace. Sasori and Deidara weren't heard of recently, but Hidan could put two and two together. There were reports of strange- unexplainable- explosions that devastated secluded areas and rather... powerful people had gone missing here and there. Without even needing hard evidence, Hidan knew Konan and Pein were probably somewhere together.

Tobi, Zetsu, and Kakuzu were a different story, however. He didn't know where they were- or have a clue as to their whereabouts. But none of that mattered. They had moved on. The past was the past and it was meant to be forgotten- even forgiven- right? Maybe-so, but Hidan couldn't even begin to fathom how his lover had forgiven him.

Shikamaru Nara. Yes, that was the humble name that his lover called his own. The shinobi was smart- no- nothing short of a prodigal genius. At first his looks didn't seem like much, but he sure was a looker. Perfect tan skin, calculating eyes, and a voice that could go from lethargic to seductive as fast as Itachi's sharingan. He also looked especially attractive with his hair down and his eyes glossy and glazed over with lust.

Hidan gulped, urging his 'growing' problem to disappear. He didn't want to satisy himself. He would wait until Shikamaru came home.

Plopping down on the couch, which just so happened to have Shikamaru's rear imprinted on it, Hidan sighed. With Shikamaru out for the next hour he would be alone with his thoughts. And whenever that happened, both parties regretted it.

"Why does Shikamaru love me?" Hidan whispered to himself. The whole notion was ludicrous. He had killed the man Shikamaru respected. Asuma was his name- if he could correctly recall. If it were him he wouldn't care. Just another dead comrade that he would wish he had the chance to kill. Mortality meant nothing to the immortal, afterall. But there was something about the cold passionate hate in Shikamaru's eyes that turned him on back then. Somehow, now, it was all marked as an irreparable mistake. Surely he couldn't bring the dead back to life, nor did he wish to. No matter how much he had changed, his compassion was limited and limited to Shikamaru.

Standing up and stretching, Hidan's eyes darted to the clock. "Just." "Ten." "More." "Fucking." "Minutes." The whole thing was driving him insane...er. The saying went that it was better to be alone than in bad company, but for Hidan his worst company was himself. He just didn't understand... himself. He used to. Back when things were simple. But now too many things were added to the mix- that was his 'life.'

Shikamaru glanced at the clock hanging from a nearby vendor's booth. He had promised Hidan that he would be home soon, but didn't want to return yet. A part of him felt bad, leaving his lover in his house- knowing full-well that he couldn't leave. Things were complicated, troublesome. He should have listened to his father. Married a good woman who knew how to cook and clean and could take care of her own, have kids and retire as early as humanly possible, and hope- yes hope- upon every religion's deity that Konoha wouldn't need him any time soon.

He had never meant to fall so hard. And from the way Hidan had been reacting lately he concluded that Hidan had not predicted this turn in event. It started out purely strategic. Well, in some sense it would have only been seen as strategic in Sasuke's eyes considering it dealt with revenge. Raw emotion clouded Shikamaru's better judgment. He wanted Hidan to pay. To have something to lose. But the overall problem was the Jashinist couldn't lose what he didn't have.

Make him fall in love. It was as simple as that, but some where along the way he had lost sight of that goal. It was true. All those wise oldwives tales that say love makes you do crazy things- they were true. He had lied to his friends. Helped the enemy. Housed the enemy. Logically, for all Shikamaru knew, Hidan could be plotting something himself. He could turn his back on Shikamaru. But Shikamaru had already turned his back on the Leaf village for allowing him to stay, for keeping him a secret.

Shikamaru groaned and shook his head. He wanted to tell someone, anyone, before he went off the deep-end. Because he had not been paying attention, Shikamaru walked, rather smacked, right into someone. "Sorr-"

"Hey Shikamaru. Long time, no see."

"Yeah." It was only Sakura. Could he trust to tell her? He believed so. She had done a lot of growing up. Once she had been a weak kunoichi who greatly depended on her comrades and could hardly protect herself. She'd had come a long way. There was strength, fire in her eyes- not to mention fists, and she would no longer be a hindrance. If only he had fallen in love with Sakura. It would be less troublesome; unlike Ino her mouth didn't rival a motor and she was easy on the eyes.

"So, uh- do you wanna talk?" Sakura felt a bit tense under two people's gazes. That was right. Two. Shikamaru, and the silver haired man who was watching intently from behind the corner.

"Yes!" Shikamaru said, a bit too fast and more enthusiastically than he would have hoped.

"Okay then," Sakura pointed to a teahouse nearby, "how about we go there?"

Hidan watched as Shikamaru- correction- HIS Shikamaru discreetly whispered words he couldn't hear and followed the pink haired kunoichi inside a suspicious-looking place. That was the last straw. He had been worried, actually worried, that something bad might've happened to his Shika. He knew that under no circumstances was he allowed to leave the house, but had been careful. His worry had only led him to find that Shikamaru was having an affair.

Carefully sneaking his way back into the house, Hidan thought about secretly killing a few mountainous villagers. No one would know what happened, and it wouldn't lead back to him. Oddly enough this thought didn't soothe him. "What does that pink haired bitch have that I don't?" Hidan wondered aloud. Was he not good enough? Was Shikamaru finally coming to his senses so they could end this little game of charades? The thought wasn't comforting as Hidan's heart beat rapidly in his chest.

"-And that's the way I feel." Shikamaru shook his head with disdain. "It makes no sense, why do I-"

Sakura put up her hand, cutting off Shikamaru. "Shikamaru... love isn't a math problem that can easily be solved. It's-" she searched for the words to try and convey it all logically, "it's like a board game-"

"A board game?"

"Let me finish. Yes, a board game. Things are left up to chance. Sometimes you can feel like the winner or the loser, but you'll never know which you really are unless you continue to play the game and if you don't win the first time you can always retry, but quitters certainly don't win anything but sympathy and pity."

"And that would also mean that the other players are rivals?"

She hadn't thought of that, but it would make a good add-on in her next speech. Afterall, Tenten and Neji WERE having relationship problems as well. "That's the idea," Sakura said with a brief smile.

"I get it but-"

"Whoa, hold on there Casanova," Sakura raised both hands. "I have already passed enough time by. I have to report back to Lady Tsunade." Sakura stood and gave a kind, warm smile. "I'm sure you'll figure something out, you always do." That last part was said a bit sarcastically.

Shikamaru sighed, nodding his head. As Sakura walked off, he stood, posture slouching slightly as he went in the direction opposite the kunoichi.

The walk was mostly quiet. A few various nightly noises littered the streets. The sounds of drunken men, promiscuous women, and the occasional rant of a worker or merchant who had run into trouble with making ends-meet. It was pretty much the same in every village- there was no perfection, although the kazekage and hokages did their best to help. Only so much could be done though with tensions running high with neighboring villages.

As Shikamaru walked in, he expected to see a pouting Hidan. Whenever he had been late he would see Hidan, waiting impatiently, feigning indifference. When Shikamaru paid enough attention he would see the slight twitch of an eyebrow, a heldback look of anger and worry. But this reassured him. Reassured him that Hidan actually cared, and threw his plans of ditching the silver-haired and silver-tongued man out of the proverbial window.

The light to the living room as well as the rest of the apartment were off. Only a small cresent of light slipped beneath the door to the bathroom. Silently approaching, Shikamaru waited outside the door contemplating whether or not to knock and let the occupant know he was home.

Hidan was enveloped in calm and relaxation when he felt the presence of someone standing on the other side of the door. He decided, not wanting to break his mood, that he would pretend that he hadn't noticed and maybe Shikamaru would go away.

There was a light knock on the door. "H-hey, Hidan, are you okay in there?" The voice was soft and broke in the beginning, causing Shikamaru to stutter somewhat.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hidan said, just as softly, sinking down further into his bubble bath.

There was a slight pause. "I missed you." Shikamaru said, his voice rising a pitch from nervousness.

There was silence. It couldn't have been longer than five seconds, but as cliché as it sounded, it felt like an eternity to Shikamaru. "I missed you too," Hidan said, words breaking the deafening silence and bringing Shikamaru out of his thoughts and back to a situation which, for once, he didn't have an immediate answer to.

"Can... I come in? I just want to see your face."

Hidan leaned even further into the bath which was now more bubbles than water. There was more silence. Followed by even more... silence.

Shikamaru leaned up against the door, genuinely worried. What was going on? Hidan was not acting like himself at all. Had something happened to Hidan while he was gone? As his thoughts raced faster and faster what inferences that came out of them caused his throat to dry, as if he'd swallowed rocks that were stuck. Had Hidan been... raped?

"No." Hidan said.

"What?"

"I'm just taking a bath. I'll see you afterwards."

Without even thinking, Shikamaru slammed the door open and ran to Hidan, whose eyes were red, as if he'd been holding back tears. "Who did it?" Shikamaru tried to keep his voice level but the horror and disgust of whoever had commited such an atrocity came through.

Hidan's eyes went wide first in slight panic in reaction to the brash emotions playing on Shikamaru's face. Then the panic turned to shock, which then turned to confusion. "Wait... What?" The way Shikamaru was talking he was as if he'd been a victim of some sort.

"Who raped you? I'll kill them!" Now Shikamaru's usually relaxed face held unimaginable anger and hatred for someone else... who didn't even exist.

Hidan punched Shikamaru in the jaw, a bit harder than he had intended. "Oww, whut whas thaht fhor?" Shikamaru slurred, holding his jaw that was already starting to swell, dearticulating his speech.

"First of all," Hidan started, unheld rage showing on his face,"who the fuck gave you that idea? Second of all, I'm not a doe-eyed fucking maiden who can't take care of himself. If someone ever even tried any shit like that you can fucking bet they'd die the most torturous death permitted, and third I am the one who should be fucking mad!"

Shikamaru was taken aback. It would be an outright lie to say he was used to Hidan's usual swearing, but when Hidan was mad? "Uh..."

"You're cheating on me!"

Now it was Shikamaru's turn to be utterly confused. "Whut?" As Shikamaru tried to talk he instantly regetted it, as his single word came out slightly muffled and his jaw stung.

"The pink haired girl. Don't deny it."

Shikamaru shook his head and Hidan understood that he had misunderstood. He would have asked what exactly the two had been doing, but decided he'd wait until tomorrow- when Shikamaru could properly form words.

"I love you," Shikamaru managed, without slurring. He had no intention- whether by choice or not, of making his words unclear. He would take a shurikan in the back to get that across.

First Hidan's face was blank, from astonishment or surprise, Shikamaru didn't know which. Then, a mere instant later he grabbed Shikamaru and pulled him into the bathtub, completely soaking the fully dressed shinobi.

A moment passed as the two stared each other directly in the eyes. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and the soul Shikamaru saw was like a fallen angel. There wasn't true innocence- not true purity, but there was a light. Something that prevented the man from resembling a demon. It was in the slight way is eyes sparkled and the intense stare. Yes, he had taken lives, maybe he couldn't justify it and that was what held him back from being a true angel- scars and all.

Taking a deep breath, Hidan placed both arms on Shikamaru's shoulders. "I love you too. More than I can ever explain. More than words can... Fuck." Hidan shook his head, already feeling his cheecks flush. He didn't want this. This weakness.

The loving moment had passed- although the feelings had not, and Shikamaru now felt the sagging of his pants that rose slightly before his ankles and the clinging of his shirt to his skin. Not to mention that the once hot bath water, hidden beneath the the bubbles, had gone ice cold. Using all the care and strength he could muster, Shikamaru put his arms underneath Hidan and lifted him from the tub, being careful with his footing so as to not drop his beloved Jashinist.

The walk was somewhat, well if Shikamaru could be frank- excruciating. He had to walk all the way around the corner and down the hallway to get to their shared room and on top of that fact, Shikamaru, also referred to by his collegues as the Lazy Nin, didn't exactly have strong bicepts- and he was regretting his 'hopeless romantic' side. As his arms wobbled slightly he gritted his teeth, and it didn't help much to add that Hidan was slippery and slipping, and oh-so distractingly nude. What did help though was when Hidan looped his arms around the Nara's neck and looked into his eyes.

"You better not drop me," Hidan said with a playful frown.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Shikamaru retorted heavily as he nearly dropped Hidan onto the queen sized mattress. Shikamaru quickly lifted his shirt over his head and threw it to the floor.

As he went to take off his pants, Hidan slapped his hand away and did it himself. Then he went on to remove Shikamaru's boxers. Shikamaru went to his dressor and slipped on a simple blue pair of, thankfully, dry boxers and threw Hidan one of his many silk black boxers.

After both slipped their respective undergarments on, Shikamaru lifted the sheets and scooted close to Hidan. Hidan obliged, moving closer and resting his head on Shikamaru's bare chest.

Shikamaru felt a shiver run down his spine as the cold pendant around Hidan's neck touched his chest. It soon warmed though as Hidan and his body heat both combined to warm the necklace.

'This feels right,' Hidan thought, the last thought he thought in fact, before drifting off into a warm peaceful slumber.

As the sun came up, it unusually woke up Shikamaru, the man capable of sleeping and entire fourteen hours, without reprocussions.

"Hey," Hidan said looking up at him.

"How long have you been up?" Shikamaru asked, realizing that the the swelling of his face had complete gone down.

"Long enough to realize you sleep with your mouth open," Hidan snickered.

"I do not!" Although his mouth did feel slightly... dry.

"Go take a shower," Hidan said, playfully pushing him off of the bed. As Shikamaru stood though, he was pulled back by Hidan's arm. "With me," he added. They both stood, making their way to the bathroom.

Once there it was a simple matter of undressing, which was easy due to the lack of clothing besides underwear.

Hidan stood directly in front of the showerhead while Shikamaru gently washed his back. It was mesmerizing- touching unbelievably soft skin that masked the strength of the muscles beneath. When he finished they'd switched places, Hidan in turn washing Shikamaru's back.

As Shikamaru turned off the stream of water, he felt a familiar hardness from behind. 'Did Hidan want to-'

"-have sex."

"What?" Shikamaru asked rather loudly.

Hidan glared, not too fond of repeating himself, but then smiled. "I want to have sex," he whispered the last word in Shikamaru's ear causing him to get excited, in a fairly low region.

They were already naked as they fell in a heap on the bed. Shikamaru was trailing kisses down Hidan's sides and a repetitive groan was heard as Hidan got more and more impatient.

Shikamaru grabbed the lube on the small glass table nearby and slicked himself up. Hidan looked at him with lusty eyes as he parted his thighs invitingly. With a grunt Shikamaru slipped into his lover's tight heat. Hidan groaned in absolute ecstacsy. The combination of the slight pain and pleasure of Shikamaru hitting his sweet spot nearly sent him over the edge earlier than he wanted. Groaning, Hidan pushed Shikamaru down, so their positions were reversed, and grabbed the lubrication himself. Quickly coating his own member, he pushed inside of Shikamaru and waited until the Nin was ready. The pace started out relatively slow, though the thrusts were deep.

Shikamaru moaned just as Hidan groaned and they both came, consiousness' both swimming above their bodies as they felt their eyes roll back from the unimaginable pleasure.

Shifting so Hidan's member pulled out, Shikamaru laid back, soon joined by Hidan, who laid his head on his chest.

As Hidan, worn out, dozed off, Shikamaru looked towards the ceiling. If he were to continue his life in Konoha- then it wouldn't really be much of a life. Hidan would always have to hide. They could never be publicly together. They could never enjoy simple pleasures such as holding hands or going out together. Hidan would always be waiting. Waiting for him to return from grocery shopping. Waiting for him to return from missions. And what would happen if he were to die on a mission? Would Hidan wait... forever?

The thought sent a chill down Shikamaru's spine. He couldn't do that to him. He couldn't do this to himself either.

Hidan awoke, looking around the room. It was empty and all the clothes in the open closet were gone. He started to panic, quickly jumping up out of the bed and running down the hallway only to eun smack right into. Shikamaru. "What's going on?" He asked in a slightly confused voice.

Shikamaru took Hidan's hand and kissed it.

Hidan looked into Shikamaru's eyes, panic and confusion lacing his own. "What's going on," there was fear in his voice.

As if to calm Hidan, Shikamaru pulled Hidan into an embrace. "We can't do this anymore."

"What are you talking about? I thought-"

"We should leave here. Go some place else where we can start over as lovers rather than stay here as enemies." Shikamaru had thought about it long and hard. He knew that no one would ever know the truth; that no one would see him as a man who left for love, but as a traitor. That's right, maybe even worse than a traitor, a deserter. After he left he would never be welcomed back. But that was okay. If everyone was out for Hidan, his lover and ex-Akatsuki member, than he wouldn't mind being in the same position.

As nightfall came, both ninjas slipped out and took off into the night. Neither knew exactly where they were headed, but did know that wherever it would be, it would be together.

As Hidan looked up into the starry night, he thought of what fate would hold for him. But then he shook his head, already knowing the answer that Jashin had presented to him. As Shikamaru pulled Hidan into a kiss, he whispered,"Love is fate's only truth."

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><p>AN:: Leave a review in the form of a comment, or request for a one or two-shot (it can be from anything- just make the pairing slash, please). Any review would be appreciated, even if it's only one word. Until next time~


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